Binance records $3.64 billion net outflows as withdrawals resume after $6.3 billion hack

Binance recorded $3.64 billion in net outflows after it reopened withdrawals on Sunday following a $6.3 billion hack. Customers rushed to move funds off the exchange, with net outflows equal to 2.1% of Binance’s $171 billion in total assets.

The figures are based on Binance’s latest available proof-of-reserves data as of Oct. 28.

Withdrawal spike on Nov. 1

Binance processed $4.65 billion in withdrawals and $1.01 billion in deposits between 6 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. UTC on Nov. 1. The exchange said withdrawal volumes had declined and were stabilising after an initial spike, while deposit volumes remained substantial.

Binance began restoring withdrawals in phases at 6 a.m. UTC on Sunday. Services resumed across all 15 networks and assets included in the initial phase by 12:36 p.m. UTC. Testing continued for the remaining networks and assets.

Circle freezes USDC linked to incident

Circle froze more than $1.1 billion in USDC associated with the incident. "Circle activated its incident response procedures and coordinated with law enforcement to freeze more than $1.1 billion in USDC associated with the incident," a spokesperson for the stablecoin issuer said. The investigation is ongoing.

The updated figure followed a Friday post from Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire, who said at the time that more than $800 million in USDC linked to the incident had been frozen.

Zhao reassures users

Binance founder and former CEO Changpeng Zhao sought to reassure users after the breach. He wrote on X that "98% choose to stay!" He said most of the net outflows occurred within the first couple of hours after withdrawals resumed.

"Trust isn’t earned by what you say in good times. It’s earned by what you do in hard times," Zhao added.

Hack and cover

The withdrawals followed a record $6.3 billion hack of Binance last week. The FBI attributed the attack to North Korean hackers, identifying the operation as TraderTraitor.

Binance has said it would absorb the financial impact of the stolen funds rather than pass the losses on to users. The exchange said it had covered around 95% of the impacted amount, up from 90% in its previous update. The remaining 5% consisted of less liquid tokens that would take longer to source in the quantities required.